1.1 A DIFFERENT SPIN ON STARTUPS
How do you get great ideas out of corporations, government, or other
large organizations and into your startup? It's a question asked
more and more as economic conditions have led many would-be
entrepreneurs back to the safety and (relative) security of a
corporate paycheck. Luckily, working in an established company
doesn't have to mean the end of your startup dreams. At this month's
Coffee & DoughNets, we'll discuss how entrepreneurs can partner with
corporations to spin out new ideas, and how intra-preneurs can
convince their employers to let them take the entrepreneurial leap.
Our panel will provide guidance, personal experience, and practical
advice on process, negotiation, strategy, structuring a deal, and
much more. What motivates a large corporation to relinquish
technology? What control and oversight do they want to maintain?
What excites (or frightens) VCs about these ventures? And, maybe
most important, how do you operate with enough freedom to get the
product to market? Take a spin out to Coffee & DoughNets this month
for answers to these and other questions. Panelists will include Tom
Gilbert, Co-founder of Blue Ridge Networks; Jesko VonWindheim, CEO
of CRONOS/JDS Uniphase; Ransom Parker, Managing Partner of
SpaceVest; Hal Kennedy of Lockheed Martin; and moderator Dave
Sylvester of Hale & Dorr.
Sign up now at:
http://netpreneur.org/events/doughnets~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.2 GOOD GRIST FOR THE RESEARCH MILL
At last week's Coffee & DoughNets, Mario Morino explained why he is
often suspicious of traditional market research. "I think it has
confused more people than it's helped." Why? "It's not that
market
research isn't good," said Mario, "It's fundamentally very good,
but
we tend not to collect or interpret it well." Find out more and get
practical advice on "Validating & Sizing Market
Opportunities" in
the event transcript, now available at the Netpreneur site. In
addition to Mario, the panel featured veterans Clara Conti, CEO of
Object Video; Paul Finke, former CEO of Yafo Networks; Tim Meyers,
General Partner of Updata Capital; and Jonathan Silver, Managing
Director of Core Capital Partners.http://netpreneur.org/events/archive.html

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2. Regional Netpreneurs ||||||||||||||||||

2.1 TRANSPORT SYSTEMS 1: MILLIMETRIX
(Herndon, VA) Millimetrix Broadband Networks introduced its Unity
system, a multi-service, multi-transport medium platform for
emerging metropolitan edge and next generation mobile networks. The
product enables service providers to construct hybrid optical-rate
networks that include fiber, high-capacity microwave radio links,
and free-space optics links in a unified transport network. Unity
integrates TDM, IP, and ATM services and provides for migration to
next generation services. Millimetrix also announced that it has an
agreement with a major carrier for the first Unity field trial,
planned for next quarter.http://www.millimetrix.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.2 TRANSPORT SYSTEMS 2: OPTINEL
(Elkridge, MD) Optical communications solutions maker Optinel
Systems announced its new broadband cable transport system. Designed both
for centralized and distributed architectures, it is
particularly suited for Video-On-Demand services and headend
consolidation. The device allows information to remain in its
HFC-compatible format, reducing the cost and improving the
performance of existing networks. It interfaces with existing cable
plant equipment, and is capable of supporting up to 50,000 video
streams over distances of greater than 300 miles.http://www.optinel.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.3 QUICOMM MONITORS YOUR KIDS
(Silver Spring, MD) Quicomm introduced GURL Watcher, an alternative
to filtering software that helps parents and others monitor and
control what children are doing while surfing online. Running as a
background application, it watches the websites displayed in a
browser, recording all sites visited by a users. The URLs can be
saved in a file or emailed to a designated address, and the list of
visited sites can be made inaccessible to anyone else so they cannot
be deleted before review.http://www.quicomm.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.6 MANAGED OBJECTS' BUSINESS SERVICE ANALYZER
(McLean, VA) Managed Objects introduced Business Service Analyzer
(BSA), a software application that evaluates and compares the
real-time and historical state of business services and the
technology resources that support them. It is built on the company's
Formula product, a platform for Business Service Management that
Managed Objects simultaneously released in Version 3.0. BSA
leverages Formula's information and information from other
performance management tools to evaluate and compare trends in
service delivery. For instance, a company can see what network
problems historically impact stock quote delivery or customer
log-ins and take steps to eliminate them.http://www.managedobjects.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.7 THREE FILE FOR CHAPTER 11
Not a good week for local CSPs. Three of them -- Metrocall,
StarBand, and Velocita -- filed for bankruptcy protection this week.
Alexandria-based Metrocall says it will continue to provide all of
its paging and wireless messaging services without interruption
during reorganization. Its pre-negotiated plan will involve a
corporate restructuring, recapitalization of existing debt, and
consolidation of subsidiaries. The reorganization for McLean-based
StarBand, a satellite ISP, includes a $2.8 million commitment for
DIP financing from founding partner Gilat Satellite Networks. The
move comes a week after StarBand filed a lawsuit charging that its
billing agent, EchoStar Communications, has not forwarded millions
of dollars in fees. Falls Church-based Velocita plans the greatest
changes, intending to restructure itself from a telecom services
company back to its original model as a construction company that
lays fiber-optic cable. With the three companies this week, a total
of six local telecom companies have filed for bankruptcy this year.http://www.metrocall.comhttp://www.starband.comhttp://www.velocita.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.8 ROUND-UP: QUICK HITS

(Reston, VA) UshaComm, a provider of convergent billing solutions
for cable, wireline, wireless, and IP service providers, has moved
to new worldwide headquarters in Reston. UshaComm will continue to
maintain its Portland, OR, facilities as well.http://www.ushabilling.com

(Burtonsville, MD) InsiderStreet.com has
changed its name to
Neosphere Systems Development & Research, Inc., reflecting the
company's shift in focus to eBusiness systems and security. The
company also named George Filippides as CEO and Chairman.http://www.neosphere.com

(Arlington, VA) Plateau Systems released
Version 4.1 of its Plateau
4 LMS solution for eLearning management. New features include
support for hierarchical domains.http://www.plateau.com

-- Media General Acquires Boxerjam
(Richmond, VA) Media General has acquired the assets of
Charlottesville-based online game developer Boxerjam. Boxerjam
produces more than 20 multi-player word, trivia, and puzzle games
with over 2 million registered users and more than 100,000 daily
players. Media General says that the acquisition is part of its
strategy to create interactive content that goes beyond the online
efforts of its newspapers and television stations. Media General
plans to relaunch Boxerjam, build a premium service, and
reinvigorate its advertising stream under the name Boxerjam Media.http://www.mediageneral.comhttp://www.boxerjam.com

-- Cycomm Acquire D.M.Data
(McLean, VA) Cycomm International, a developer of "ruggedized"
mobile computer systems, signed a letter of intent to acquire
Marlton, NJ-based D.M.Data Corporation, a provider of public safety
software solutions. D.M.Data was profitable in 2001, with revenues
of approximately $6 million. The acquisition is a step in Cycomm's
plan to diversify its product line and enter new markets. The
majority shareholder of D.M.Data is Rockville, MD-based Prolease, an
IT services company that will remain a shareholder in the combined
entity as well as providing software development and processing
support. D.M.Data's solutions enable law enforcement, corrections,
fire, and EMS agencies to respond more quickly to incidents.http://www.cycomm-mobile.comhttp://www.dmdata.comhttp://www.prolease.com

-- Salem Buys Crosswalk.com
(Chantilly, VA) Crosswalk.com has signed a letter of intent to sell
its Christian portal site and email business to Salem
Communications, a faith-based publishing company, for $4.1 million.
Proceeds from the sale will initially remain in Crosswalk. In the
immediate future, Crosswalk plans to continue its offline
advertising business, currently serving over 50 advertisers and
225,000 churches. Going forward, "Crosswalk's vision is to
"utilize
the proceeds to acquire cash producing assets in order to maximize
return for the common shareholders."http://www.crosswalk.com

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4. Opportunities & Resources ||||||||||||||||||

4.1 NEW GROUP FOR DATABASE PROS
(Fairfax, VA) Team Database has begun accepting members into its
association for database professionals. Membership is open to all
database administrators, data modelers, designers, architects,
programmers, developers, miners, theorists, and researchers who work
with databases full or part time. Charter members will receive
special benefits unavailable to the membership at large. Companies
with database products or services, or products that integrate with
database technology can advertise them in the Team Database Resource
Center at no cost. Team Database will also offer sets of
vendor-neutral database certifications and exams scheduled to go
live later this month.http://www.teamdatabase.com

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5. Who'sware ||||||||||||||||||

(Columbia, MD) Sourcefire, a network security company,
named Wayne Jackson as CEO. He was formerly co-founder of Riverbed
Technologies which was later acquired by Aether Systems. Sourcefire's
founder and President, Martin Roesch, becomes CTO.http://www.sourcefire.com

(Washington, DC) Bantu, a provider of
enterprise instant messaging
software, named Mike Hansen as VP of Research & Development. He was
formerly CTO and principal of AAJ Interactive Technologieshttp://www.bantu.com

(Washington, DC) Quarterdeck Investment
Partners, an investment
banking firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, and
federal IT markets, named Edward Bersoff as Managing Director in its
DC office. Bersoff, the former Chairman, CEO, President, and founder
of BTG, will also maintain his current position as Chairman and CEO
of Re-route Corp., an email forwarding service.http://www.qtrdeck.com

(Baltimore, MD) Venture capital firm New
Enterprise Associates (NEA)
named Michael Raab as Partner, augmenting its medical and healthcare
team. He was most recently SVP for Therapeutics and GM of Renagel at
Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme.http://www.nea.com

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Netpreneur News is copyright 2002, Morino Institute, all rights reserved. The information contained here has been obtained from
sources believed to be reliable, but is not necessarily complete and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. It is provided "as is" and
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